So I went to day 1 of this...



...and oh my god was it hot and loud.

Every single artist in the main room played blistering, uncompromising, thrashing beats from beginning to end (apart from maybe Ulwhednar (Abdullah Rashim + Varg from Northern Electronics), the only ones who dared to play anything resembling a melody). In the austere, massive space that Elementenstraat Warehouse is, the intensity and pressure from the sound and heat is something unlike any other rave I've been to for quite a while. My tank top was completely soaked after about an hour. For once, I had no ill will towards dudes walking around topless at a rave. It seemed quite fitting.

I need variation in my techno to stay interested for very long periods of time, and 3 hours of ruthless monotone from DVS1 got boring rather fast. So, I went to the smaller room instead, where Eomac was busy showing off his latest LP, Bedouin Trax (aka Muslimgauze 3.0). Where Shackleton previously has focused on the intricacy of Bryn Jones' percussion structures, Eomac has placed his emphasis on the distorted, dissonant tones of his work instead, tying it in nicely with the industrial aesthetic that is so prevalent within techno these days. The set was fairly rough around the edges, but provided some blessed relief in syncopation and groove from In Aeternam Vale and the main room. The women seemed to like it especially.

Unfortunately, my gripe about the dutch crowds remains the same: They are spoiled rotten and make for lethargic dancefloors once the event reaches a certain size. Terence Fixmer and Douglas McCarthy had little luck with their PA because of this, despite performing some of the bigger Nitzer Ebb hits. That said, the latter's voice doesn't quite have the same bite as it used to, and I'm not so sure if millennials give a shit about either of these two guys in 2017.

A mixed bag of a night, then. Night 2 had better music on paper, but was sold out way before I decided to head over to Amsterdam. By the time lacksesepsotygh offered me his GF's ticket the next day, my ears were ringing so hard that going back would've resulted in serious hearing damage. So, I passed on it and missed Paula Temple AGAIN. God dammit.

Reaktor Events will be back for Amsterdam Dance Event at the same venue with Helena Hauff, Tsuzing, Lory D, Gunnar Haslam and Karenn in October, though. Sign me up.

___________________
"Wenn du dich zum Untergrund z�hlst, reicht es nicht, es nur zu sagen. Du musst auch viel graben, um es zu werden."

quote:

Originally posted by Woony lmao, Berghain (downstairs) is a bunch of people on 2g of speed and/or too much G that jerk around wildly while looking grim and not paying attention to anyone else It wasn't always that extreme but it's always been more that intensive serious raving rather than PLUR euphoria.

Sorry for the double reply to this but i do have to say something. This isnt directed at you at all because I really like you and think you have great taste in music in addition to sounding like a good all around young head. So I am not talking about you but mainly referring to an overall trend I have seen where people somehow think taking MDMA is somehow not what a connoisseur should do. That being said, in my humble opinion, anyone who thinks taking speed or G somehow constitutes serious raving is either just looking for an excuse to have gay sex on the dancefloor or has no actual idea what a rave actually is. I see this even when I go to underground raves in LA and you see a bunch of keted out morons who look like zombies out there. A rave by its very definition is almost just a party designed for people on mdma, while ketamine, lsd, GHB, or even speed are all supposed to be ancillary or combinations to take along with the MDMA to prolong the party. There is nothing serious or sophisticated about dudes acting like zombies out there and ruining everyone else's time. Sorry for the rant, but at times I almost feel bad for the younger heads who might never experience the sheer beauty of listening to great electronic music while hugging random strangers regardless of age, sex, looks, or even orientation. Just because PLURing became associated with some garbage cheesy music and people, doesnt mean it wasnt actually something beautiful once before morons ruined it. End of rant, and as stated before It wasnt directed at you at all, so hope you dont get offended.

___________________
X-MIX 1 The MFS Trip

This guy needs to come back

PLUR was always a UK acid house thing, not a German techno thing. Even when guys like Tanith and Wolle XDP started importing the UK rave records to Berlin around the fall of the wall, rave videos from that time have a markedly different attitude compared to the loved up acid revolution across the channel. Pitch black rooms, aggressive strobes, austere basements, Tanith done up in camo gear...it's the very same legacy that Berghain tries to maintain. Techno in Germany simply had an even greater, more militant counter cultural emphasis than usual, since it was trying to wriggle itself free of the remaining authoritarian chains harnessed by the DDR at the outset. I'd argue that you can still see this, despite techno being big business now.

___________________
"Wenn du dich zum Untergrund z�hlst, reicht es nicht, es nur zu sagen. Du musst auch viel graben, um es zu werden."

Certainly from my limited experience of clubbing in Berlin, the crowds are a lot more sullen and self-contained. There's not much visible happiness - not many big cheesy grins, back slapping or sweaty hugs. Also, because the nights go on for so long, people come and go to their own schedules. You don't seem to get the same peak time feeling of the entire club coming up on their drugs at once, which for me is probably the most joyous part of clubbing.

Also, speed is just a horrendous drug generally.

___________________
Mixes:
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24
> Surface Tension [Progressive Trance]
> Back To Deep [Deep Trippy House]
> Terra Nova [Modern Progressive Trance]

If you enjoy any of these sets and want to hear me live, I'll be playing a 2 hour progressive trance set at Basing House in Shoreditch, London on 11th October.
I'm also a resident at our bi-monthly party Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

Also, longer nights cause people to space out their drug use, both for health and monetary reasons. If you completely wreck yourself within 6 hours like in the UK, you'll probably miss the best part of the party. So the whole purpose of the drugs is different, not to make the most of your limited time in the club but to be able to last for the duration of the party.

___________________
June 2018 mix

quote:

Originally posted by Woony If you completely wreck yourself within 6 hours like in the UK, you'll probably miss the best part of the party.

I don't know what you think goes on over here, but people aren't getting so ruined they're being stretchered away at the end of the night. It's pretty common for the party to continue for 15-20 hours, it's just the majority of that will be back at someone's flat. I doubt crowds cane it notably harder here than anywhere else, it's just the structure of the night is more about a unified experience that, as PVP says, is a crystallisation of the ecstasy experience. I get the distinct impression that in Germany and nearby countries like Poland, amphetamines and moody crowds are more common, and the ultra-long parties in Berlin can diminish the sense of the collective yet further.

As for Dutch crowds, I'm doing the full five days of ADE in October, so we'll see if they're as spoiled as Jan reckons.

___________________
Mixes:
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24
> Surface Tension [Progressive Trance]
> Back To Deep [Deep Trippy House]
> Terra Nova [Modern Progressive Trance]

If you enjoy any of these sets and want to hear me live, I'll be playing a 2 hour progressive trance set at Basing House in Shoreditch, London on 11th October.
I'm also a resident at our bi-monthly party Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

I've never been to the UK but people that I've talked to that have been or lived there always say that people are getting much more fucked up in a quicker amount of time. It' the same with binge drinking, isn't it?

___________________
June 2018 mix

Well, drinking's a whole other thing. And a big part of binge drinking is people having extended drinking sessions (or, increasingly; "the sesh"). It's very common for people to finish work at 5pm and go straight to the pub without going home, or at start drinking on a Saturday at 12pm. In both cases, the session will still go on into the early hours of the morning. Then you end up with the embarrassing displays of public drunkenness that are endemic in every single town centre in this country every weekend.

___________________
Mixes:
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24
> Surface Tension [Progressive Trance]
> Back To Deep [Deep Trippy House]
> Terra Nova [Modern Progressive Trance]

If you enjoy any of these sets and want to hear me live, I'll be playing a 2 hour progressive trance set at Basing House in Shoreditch, London on 11th October.
I'm also a resident at our bi-monthly party Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J As for Dutch crowds, I'm doing the full five days of ADE in October, so we'll see if they're as spoiled as Jan reckons.

I'm thinking of going this year as well. The lineup of events this year is a lot more appealing than it has been for a while, plus I actually have some vacation time.

ADE gives Amsterdam a massive influx of international clubbers. You might actually have a lot more luck with your dancefloor energy during that week, especially if you go to one of the smaller venues where the smartphone factor isn't quite as high. There's a reason why Berghain has no mirrors, sparse lighting and a phone camera ban...

...namely that there would be no space for leather chaps and watersports anymore without these things.

___________________
"Wenn du dich zum Untergrund z�hlst, reicht es nicht, es nur zu sagen. Du musst auch viel graben, um es zu werden."

Last edited by Sand Leaper on Aug-09-2017 at 19:02

Basically every Berlin club has a picture ban policy, although it's not as strictly enforced everywhere as at is Berghain. The nice thing is that the local crowd has mostly adapted, even if it's not strictly enforced. Even ignoring the privacy issue, people taking picture/videos on the dancefloor is just fucking annoying, it takes up space and kills the vibe.

___________________
June 2018 mix

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J You don't seem to get the same peak time feeling of the entire club coming up on their drugs at once, which for me is probably the most joyous part of clubbing. Also, speed is just a horrendous drug generally.

My man, you really were born in the wrong decade. I wish I could take you back in a time machine with me.

Also, that sand leaper post was very informative and interesting. That being said, E-werk was the most famous club in berlin from like 93-97, a lot of berghain djs like dettmann always talk about how amazing it was, and from everything i have ever read about it, it was basically a PLUR club to the max. Nevermind that loveparade was as PLUR as possible. So is berghain basically an attempt to go before that?

In the old days, if you had a really long party you just fueled yourself on acid. Speed doesnt even help you appreciate the music in anyway. Seems like just an excuse to have crazy sex.

___________________
X-MIX 1 The MFS Trip

This guy needs to come back

Last edited by paulversuspaul on Aug-09-2017 at 22:39

E-Werk wasn't very PLUR (by the standards of the 90s..), it was essentially the Berghain of the 90s. It was a serious looking building, they had serious art exhibitions and lots of people got rejected, which gave birth to the infamous E-Werk parking lot raves. The music was very serious, PvD was an outsider, he was utterly despised by the other residents, which mostly played very purist stuff. Also, E-Werk quickly become a social hotspot and status thing, much like Berghain is today At some point they hosted the MTV video awards there and you had all these famous people going in and out. If you are interested in this stuff, the great oral history Klang der Familie got translated into english a few years ago and they have a chaper on E-Werk. It's actually surprisingly negative, a lot of people behind the club seem to think of it as almost this kind of mistake, because E-Werk was the point where the guys behind the scenes switched from E to coke because of all the money and the social status, which created a kind of VIP-scene that treated the common raver with contempt and the 'rave ideal' of the early 90s was forever shattered.

The Loveparade also wasn't very PLUR behind the scenes, there was a huge split behind the guys trying to make money (Low Spirit, Westbam etc.) and the idealists trying to keep the rave ideal clean. The Low Spirit guys eventually started this kind of hostile takeover of the Loveparade. In the book you can clearly tell that everyone is still kind of bitter about it 20 years later, because it was the moment where techno sold out and went commercial. It's kind of funny, in the book everyone is continously absolutely ripping this guy called J�rgen Laarman that was kind of the business guy behind the Low Spirit guys and he's just totally honest about what he was doing, like, well I was just trying to make some money, is that so bad.... On the flipside, Westbam is also hated by everyone else but he is very defensive about it in the book, he even wrote his own techno-history a few years back, trying to set the record clean.

Also, the guys behind Berghain started out doing the infamous Snax parties at the Bunker, which was this super intensive hardcore techno club housed in an huge nazi-era bunker - lots of shirtless guys intensly dancing to pounding beats. In the book they also talk about how speed was always the main drug at the Bunker, some things don't change

___________________
June 2018 mix

Last edited by Woony on Aug-10-2017 at 09:54